[4] His other wives were Tarabai, the daughter of Sarsenapati Hambirrao Mohite, the Maratha army commander who succeeded Prataprao, and Rajasbai from the influential Ghatge family of Kagal.

[8][9] Before evacuating Raigad, Rajaram paid a last visit to Yesubai and laid his head at her feet to seek her blessings.

[10] Rajaram rose, embraced prince Shivaji, and bade the garrison farewell moving towards to the Bhavani temple at Pratapgad.

[16] The forty thousand strong Maratha army under the immediate command of Dhanaji Jadhav was still too small to achieve anything in pitched battle against the large hordes of Aurangzeb.

On stealthily reaching the Mughal camp they rushed at Aurangzeb's pavilion, cut down the supporting ropes and the huge cloth edifice came down in a crash, killing everyone inside.

this significant event has been vividly depicted in the drama "Bhangale Swapna Maharashtra" written by Bashir Momin (Kavathekar); showcasing the valar of Maratha soldiers and how that brave surgical strike instilled fear in the mughal army.

After some rest at Sinhagad, Santaji led the Maratha contingent down the Bhor Ghat and attacked the rear of Itikad Khan's army besieging Raigad, carrying off five imperial Mughal war elephants.

Following this Maratha contingents under Dhanaji Jadhav and Santaji attacked and completely routed Muqarrab Khan, the Mughal general responsible for capture of Chhatrapati Sambhaji, at Bhudhargad 45 miles south of Kolhapur.

Sidhoji Gujar who helped Santaji and Vithoji was titled 'Sarkhel' and appointed the Grand Admiral of the Maratha Navy with Kanhoji Angre and Bhavanji Mohite as his deputies.

Dhanaji Jadhav with the main army repulsed a full-fledged attack on his position at Phaltan and with some of the enemy's captured guns joined the ceremony at Panhala.

In these adverse circumstances Rajaram and his advisers were compelled to offer inducements of feudal estates to their helpers, in order to retain their services and allegiance.

Aurangzeb profusely offered lands, titles and rewards as inducements to Maratha lords to renounce their Chhatrapati and accept Mughal service.

These sanads were in actuality promises of future reward, assuring the military leaders that they would be considered owners of the territory they would subjugate in any quarter of India.

This game became profitable for a time to the roving Maratha bands; they borrowed money, raised troops and carried on expeditions to distant parts of India.

The remainder were divided into 3 contingents each of 20,000, commanded respectively by Senapati Santaji Ghorpade, Parsoji Bhonsle, honoured by the appellation of 'Senasahibsubha' or master of the army, and Siddhojirao Nimbalkar; to whom Rajaram had given the title of 'Sarlashkar', or chief of the cavalry.

Rajaram, however, successfully escaped due to intervention of the Shirke family who hid him in the Mughal camp itself and then furnished him with horses to travel first to Vellore and later to Vishalgad.

During that period when Jinji remained unconquered, "the intrepid Maratha commanders, Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav, wrought havoc in the Karnataka and Maharashtra by defeating the Mughal generals and cutting off their lines of communication.

[34] A letter of 22 March 1690, composed by Rajaram and drafted by Khando Ballal Chitnis to Baji Sarjerao Jedhe Deshmukh of Kari speaks of the rallying of the Vijaynagar Poligars of the South to the Maratha banner in these terms and the role of Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav leading them: “We have enlisted on arrival in the Karnatak forty thousand cavalry and a lakh and a quarter of infantry.

We have dispatched Keshav Trimal Pingale to Maharashtra with a treasure of a lakh of Hons, guarded by an escort of forty thousand armed men with Santaji and Dhanaji at their head.

One such challenge was as follows: "Having clearly grasped your readiness to quit the Mughal service and return to the Chhatrapati's for defending the Maharashtra Dharma, we are assigning to you for your own personal expenses and those of your troops, an annuity...".

[37][38][39][40] These aims included even the conquest of Delhi, so as to make the whole Indian sub-continent safe for the Hindu religion, and no more destruction of temples and idols was to be tolerated.

[41] Animated by a desire to avenge their wrongs, the Maratha bands spread over the vast territories from Khandesh to the south coast, over Gujarat, Baglan, Gondwana, and the Karnataka, devastating Mughal stations, destroying their armies, exacting tribute, plundering Mughal treasures, animals and stocks of camp equipage.

Through an endless darkness he had kept alive the flickering flame of his country's independence; and when Aurangzeb thought he had at last crushed him for ever, Rajaram had re-appeared in his own kingdom and had once again hurled defiance at the northern invaders.

[44] When the council for planning the next course of action opened at Satara, Hukumatpanah Ramchandrapant, supported by his lieutenants, Parashuram Trymbak and Shankar Narayan, advanced to the Chhatrapati's seat and were lauded for their administration during the exile of Rajaram.

Rajaram lauded the services of the Maratha Houses of Atole, Dabhade, Pawar and Patankar and distributed to them and to others dresses of honour suited to their rank and achievements and disclosed his strategy.

[45] Rajaram led a large Maratha force to attack the Mughal city of Jalna which he successfully plundered and set on fire.

Although half dead with fatigue, Rajaram fought a continuous series of rearguard actions for fifty miles and at last brought his command, reduced but not destroyed, to the welcome shelter of Sinhgad.

Knowing his end was near, Rajaram called upon his council and commanded them not to relax their efforts in the war of liberation until King Shahu had been freed and the Mughals driven from the land of the Marathas.

To keep alive Chhatrapati Rajaram's memory, Ramchandra Bavdekar built a temple to Shiva on the edge of Sinhgad fort.

The Satara seat passed to a grandson of Rajaram called Ramaraja after he was adopted at the insistence of Tarabai, by Shahu who did not have a natural male heir.